Apparently hippies are still around; they’ve just moved from Haight Ashbury to the desert near Reno.
I’m not sure where I first heard of it, but The Burning Man bubbled up to my awareness this weekend; most likely because I probably came across a brief mention of it in the news because it just closed today. It’s a combination of art festival, hippy event and party that takes place on a dried lakebed somewhere out in the high desert northeast of Reno. Seems that a guy started out having an “event” on a beach near San Francisco over 25 years ago, culminating in the burning of a sculpture of a man (hence the title). It seemed like fun so they went back the next year and each year thereafter. At some point it got so big (and of concern to authorities) that it moved out into the desert where it’s been every year since. They have some very interesting and free-form art works there from all over the world, and pretty much the only rule is that pretty much anything goes, and when it’s over everything (and they mean everything!) gets carted away, leaving no trace of their event. They sell tickets and limit the number of attendees (there were something like 30,000 this year), and each person or group has to carry in everything they’ll need (including a gallon and a half of water per day), their own shade, food, and so forth. They do have a group that looks after order, medical emergencies and the like, but rampant nudity (or partial nudity anyway) and anarchy seem to be pretty much the order of the day (pun intended). The local authorities handle things with grace and discretion (the extra bucks the attendees bring to the area each year probably have something to do with that, it being an economically challenged area and all).
Anyhow we now have Apple TV and a NetFlix account, and in browsing last night I found a documentary of The Burning Man. What a hoot this looks like! I don’t yet have a Bucket List (or not much of one anyhow—seems a bit too “old-manlike” to me) but if/when I do I think The Burning Man may have to be on it.
I made mention of the conclusion of The Burning Man on my Facebook site this morning and got no less than 6 people saying that they have friends, coworkers or acquaintances who’ve attended. A distant cousin said she has a coworker who had 4 tickets, but wasn’t able to go and sold their tickets for $11,000!
Amazing.
Don’t forget, the Man burns in 362 days and counting!
Check out their website!
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer.
Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.
The Man burns in 362 days.
Apparently hippies are still around; they’ve just moved from Haight Ashbury to the desert near Reno.
I’m not sure where I first heard of it, but The Burning Man bubbled up to my awareness this weekend; most likely because I probably came across a brief mention of it in the news because it just closed today. It’s a combination of art festival, hippy event and party that takes place on a dried lakebed somewhere out in the high desert northeast of Reno. Seems that a guy started out having an “event” on a beach near San Francisco over 25 years ago, culminating in the burning of a sculpture of a man (hence the title). It seemed like fun so they went back the next year and each year thereafter. At some point it got so big (and of concern to authorities) that it moved out into the desert where it’s been every year since. They have some very interesting and free-form art works there from all over the world, and pretty much the only rule is that pretty much anything goes, and when it’s over everything (and they mean everything!) gets carted away, leaving no trace of their event. They sell tickets and limit the number of attendees (there were something like 30,000 this year), and each person or group has to carry in everything they’ll need (including a gallon and a half of water per day), their own shade, food, and so forth. They do have a group that looks after order, medical emergencies and the like, but rampant nudity (or partial nudity anyway) and anarchy seem to be pretty much the order of the day (pun intended). The local authorities handle things with grace and discretion (the extra bucks the attendees bring to the area each year probably have something to do with that, it being an economically challenged area and all).
Anyhow we now have Apple TV and a NetFlix account, and in browsing last night I found a documentary of The Burning Man. What a hoot this looks like! I don’t yet have a Bucket List (or not much of one anyhow—seems a bit too “old-manlike” to me) but if/when I do I think The Burning Man may have to be on it.
I made mention of the conclusion of The Burning Man on my Facebook site this morning and got no less than 6 people saying that they have friends, coworkers or acquaintances who’ve attended. A distant cousin said she has a coworker who had 4 tickets, but wasn’t able to go and sold their tickets for $11,000!
Amazing.
Don’t forget, the Man burns in 362 days and counting!
Check out their website!
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer. Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.